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You can change the order of tasks by editing the
task number?

One of the most powerful tools in the Vertabase toolkit is the Global Task Report.

With a wide array of search filters and flexible display options, countless reports can be designed to monitor progress on projects. Examples of the kind of reports you could create include the following:

1. Late tasks that were due last week;

2. Milestones due for the current month;

3. Incomplete Critical Tasks due in the current week for a specific client;

4. Status of Billable Tasks (using the Work Type field as a filter for billable tasks); and

5. Under estimated tasks on archived projects within a designated portfolio (for an historical review).

Set the My Reports page as your Start Page to use Global Task Reports as launching pads for a detailed look at the status of key projects.

By exporting the report as a PopOut, you can click task names to view more detail on the project schedule. Update the schedule as required to address issues raised through the report results. Perhaps more resources are required on tasks, or assigned hours need to be redistributed among resources.

While updates are made to schedules the PopOut remains available as a navigational aid to find the schedules of any project appearing in the report.

To learn more about using the Global Task Report to monitor projects, see this video in our Learning Center:
1. Global Task Report

Happy 2012!

With the New Year we are pleased to announce the upcoming release of a new version. The official release is scheduled for the end of this quarter but we wanted to give you a sneak peek into the upcoming features. Read all about them below.

The current release continues on the theme of the 5.0 product line: Do what you do, only better!

The rapid release of this level of new features and interface improvements, coming seven months after 5.0 was launched, represents the first fruits of the company's internal move to increased agility with a blended project management methodology.

It also comes on the heels of the company's 15th anniversary.

We thank you for being a continued partner in Vertabase's success and hope you enjoy the new features.

Here's to good projects,
-Mark

Vertabase 5.1 Feature Highlights

Improved Project Schedule Usability by adding

• New functionality directly on the project schedule pages,
• Re-organizing the schedule action columns,
• One-click task adding,
• Custom and default schedule filter views and
• Improved highlighting for better visibility when working with a project schedule;

Faster Resource and Personnel Management with a

• Redesigned user account page
• One click to add someone to all projects
• One click to remove someone from all projects
• Easy access for people to manage their vacations
• One click view of a person's availability.

More Online Timesheets Options by introducing a

• Weekly timesheet grid format by days of the week
• Copy entries for easy updating
• See daily totals of hours by project and task
• Quick project search to find projects and tasks to add time to.
• There are now fours ways to enter time onto tasks: weekly timesheet online, free form online timesheet, the desktop Timer and directly on a personal daily task list.

Reporting Enhancements and Gantt PDF output.

Decrease Certainty - Increase Agility

We've been adding more Agility into our production process here at Vertabase. As product manager, I'm leading this effort. One of the techniques I’m using is to push-back at the development team when they ask me questions, particularly about features.

One of my favorite responses is "Do I need to make a decision on this now?"

The urge to make a decision now is strong, coming from a plan driven background. But it unduly locks-up the team, our customers and our product.

While it is comforting for the team to have me (or a customer, for that matter) make a decision, it makes them less nimble and responsive. It focuses them on meeting a set of requirements, as opposed to the customers' needs. The responsibility for the feature is no longer in their hands. They can simply follow directions and meet a spec.

So far, the team has been empowered by seeing that a decision doesn't have to be made nor a policy/spec adhered to, and re-focused instead, on the simple art of the right feature implemented well.